Antaria's last message
by Rrazz
Summary: A remote dominion mining base, a freak sandstorm. And a *malfunctioning* commstation. Simple coincidence? Or is something much more sinister afoot on Antaria?  Random idea, probably sucks
1. Chapter 1

((Urgh, i'm going to be totally honest. I have NO idea how, why, and even what happened with this story. I was playing Starcraft and getting my ass handed to be by the AI ( I haven't played in like two years *Shrugs*)) And this suddenly popped into my head and i just opened word and started typing...An hour later, here i am a thousandish words on my hand and no idea what to do with it. So i decided i'd bore the world with this and upload it for the fun of it. An hours work with little to no direction.))

((If you do read this, please leave a comment/review. Tell me how bad it is, or if you think it's salvagable, i might be able to make something out of it. Who knows.))

Antaria's last message: Always starts with a storm

* * *

Antaria, a desolate planet at it's best, down right dangerous and uninhabitable at worse. Ninety percent or more of its surface was desert; the rest was fortifications build by the Terran Dominion.

There was little use in the planet, it was remote and lacked any strategic value, save a massive deposit of the blue crystals every race in the Kouporal sector harnessed for their war efforts.

Unknown to the garrison that watched over the mining operation, they weren't the only ones with eyes set on the dust ball of a planet.

* * *

"They should have reported in by now…Shouldn't they?" One of the technicians' asked his companion, eyes glued to the sensor readout. A sandstorm had picked up recently, driving most people inside, and it was playing hell with the scanners. "It's been two hours with no word from the Ikea."

"Alex, shut up!" His friend barely resisted the urgh to smack the younger tech. "The storms probably knocked out the comsat station again. Once it passes they can fix it and get us back online."

Alex opened his mouth for a second, before snapping it shut again, the blond haired teenager knew better then to argue. Fears or not, he wasn't one to push the issue. Besides, the boss was probably right.

Sadly the planet only had a few suitable locations where their command posts could be set up. And the only place the comm tower could be established and still get a clear signal out to orbit was a good five miles away from the main outpost. Forcing the dominion to split its attention and forces. A mistake that was unknowingly being exploited.

* * *

"Comm's offline…Operation complete." A cold voice burst through the static and made Corporal Jackson wince slightly, how he disliked the spooks, voices were so cold and emotionless, sent chills down his spine just thinking about it.

"Got it." He responded after a moment, blasted ghost probably heard that and all.

"You're surprised?" The same voice spoke again, this time a faint hint of amusement edging the words.

"Can it…And keep out of my head jackass." Jackson snarled, before breaking the transmission. How he hated working with them. But this operation couldn't afford mistakes, and that meant putting his issues aside.

Pulling the hammer back on his impaler, the marine gave a slight nod to the squad around him, before setting off towards the comsat station. He couldn't see it through the storm, but the hud that decorated the inside of his visor had dropped a waypoint, all he had to do was follow it.

"Two on the door. Orders sir?" One of the marines whispered, Jackson noted with a hint of pride the marine was already in position to take the shot and kill one of them. Without pause, he pulled his rifle up and took aim as well. "Quietly delta, on three."

He slowly counted up. And as soon as he reached the number, both fired a short burst. The silhouettes of their targets flickered and vanished a second later. "Think anyone heard that?"

"Doubt it. Keep moving," His gaze snapped down to a countdown timer to one side of his visor. "Two minutes till the scanners activate." Everything had gone to plan so far. With the storm playing hell with the dominion equipment, it had been easy for a dropship brave, or stupid depending on the persons point of view, to land a strike team, the ghosts had easily hacked a hole in the array and brought them enough time to reach the station.

All they had to do now was silence the crew.

The timer was down to one minute when they reached the door; one of the ghosts had rejoined them at this point. And Alessa was quick on her wrist mounted computer. "Three, two…One." The doors slid open and before Jackson could even blink, she vanished in a flicker and was gone. Another reason why he disliked them, you could never tell when they were in the room watching…

Shaking his head, he waved his squad through and followed close behind. "Watch for movement, no chance they'd leave this place undefended…" A motion tracker popped up on his screen, and he noted several red blips moving off to the sides. Other rooms no doubt.

The building was the standard metal corridors and lights. Nothing special really, though he cringed in disdain at the dominion banners hanging up here and there. How anyone found this decorative he couldn't say.

Raising a hand, he swiftly waved the five others with him into position. Two for each side room, and one to keep going to the main room with him.

As the two continued onwards, he heard the muted barks of rifle fire and heard the reports from his fellow soldiers, all dead no sound. So far the base was unaware they were even on the planet, let alone inside the comm center with them.

"One guard, two techs working on the computers, orders?" Alessa's voice filled his ears, unlike her superior her voice was sweet and almost innocent, a stark contrast to the woman it belonged to.

"Were at the door. Soon as it opens, take the guard, we'll handle the others." Jackson replied, his hands tightening there grip on the impaler. "Go!" The doors sprung apart automatically, sensing movement they parted without protest.

The first thing he saw, was another power armoured marine, the red and black suit now sporting more red then usual thanks to a sizeable hole punched through it by Alessa's C10. Before he even hit the ground, the unarmed techs were dead and on the ground as well. "Fifteen seconds!" Alessa snapped, already her weapon was slung across her back and she was madly tapping away at one of the consoles. "Cutting it close!" She hissed, Jackson simply rolled his eyes. As she'd already finished hacking the terminal by this point.

"Okay, sensors are offline. Comsat down. Soon as the storm passes, we can deal with the main command center…"

The storm would likely last for a few more hours. With a slight shifting of his head, Jacksons visor slid up and out of the way, revealing the young man behind it. He was only in his early twenty's. The only reason he held a rank was due to the fact he was due to his squad leader being killed in the last mission. He'd been the poor bastard picked to replace him for the assault on Antaria.

One armoured hand moved to wipe the sweat from his face, no easy feat thanks to the helmet and gauntlet. "Soon as the storm lifts. The rest of the strike team will join us. And the dominion won't know what hit them."

Antaria would soon be liberated. And it's resources put to much better use. The Kel-Moria Combine would see to that


	2. Black out

Heh, still no idea what i'm doing with this story, or even why i whipped up a second chapter between games. But, *Shrugs* hope it's enjoyable. I'll look into getting something more coherant up for the next chapters if anyones interested.

* * *

Antaria's last message: Black out

"Any word?" The storm had passed an hour ago, and now Jackson was getting nervous. Surely someone would have noticed the array's silence.

Luckily he'd managed to get his helmet off at this point, no easy task. And was able to run a hand through his raven black hair –a nervous habit- while watching the display over Alessa's shoulder.

"Nothing yet, though the Ikea has moved into close orbit above the command center." She replied, her fingers a blur as she pulled up, scanned and closed a dozen different windows and icons. "The short range comms might work at that range, though I can't say for sure. I don't have blueprints for the base yet."

Nodding slightly, the marine chose to let her work, and moved away for now. His gaze shifting instead to another marine posted by the control room, unlike his superior, his visor was still locked down and his face was masked behind it. "Keep an eye on her." He whispered quietly, before lightly clapping the soldier on the shoulder and leaving the room.

"You really should learn to trust people." Jackson swiftly whipped around to face the direction the voice had come from. Though it was a few seconds before the ghost faded into view, his face was obscured by the headgear he wore, but the marine knew he was smirking, he didn't need to see it.

"I trust people just fine. Its ghosts I have a problem with. Always sneaking around and messing with my head."

There were three ghosts in total. Alessa, there hacker and tech expert, the leader who Jackson was glaring at currently, only known as Shadow, a pathetic name in his opinion but he wouldn't say it to his face. And finally Martel, who was out there somewhere, but hadn't shown his face yet, the only reason Jackson knew he was planet side was thanks to the roster he'd been given listing his squad and the trio of ghosts.

More would be arriving soon enough. They just needed and opening, a distraction. And with the Ikea away from its post, the comsat station offline, now was the perfect time to act.

"Alessa says the cruisers in orbit, but distracted. Now's our chance to signal command I'd wager." Shadow nodded slightly in response to the marine's words, before simply walking away.

Shaking his head slightly, he put the, awkward conversation from his mind and kept walking.

* * *

"Drop ship's touching down now." Jackson turned his radio off a second later and focused on ship. Unlike most of their vessels, this one lacked the large KM logo that would have given away who it belonged to. This one was unmarked, making it easier to land without the dominion drawing conclusions. "Won't know till it's to late." The marine repeated the element of the briefing. Before moving forwards to meet the crew as they jogged down the ramp to join the strike team.

Another four marines, two others clad in flame proof gear, firebat's as most called them, their heavy armour and flame throwers would make short work of any bunkers or trenches they might have to deal with. And a medical officer, someone they'd need before long he was sure.

"Ma'am!" Jackson recognized the markings on the medic's armour, and swiftly snapped to attention, a sergeant.

He couldn't see much due to her armour and visor, why everyone had to have those shields down he didn't know. But it was frustrating trying to talk to someone when you couldn't even meet their gaze. Never the less, she was polite enough to return the salute at least, though spoke to him through his radio. "Corporal? Good to see you're not dead."

"Course not, like you said, I'm too stubborn to die." Jackson responded with a smile, this wasn't his first run in with the medic, Cole. She had patched him up more then once over the past couple of years of service.

While they were hardly friends, they knew each other well enough to not let rank slow them down. "What's the situation?" Cole asked, her helmet turning enough to indicate she was surveying the comm. tower.

"We've cleared out the crew and disabled the connection with the main base. It won't be long before they get suspicious and send a search party up here. But we should have enough time to scramble there communications and get the main strike force planet side."

"Good," Cole's gaze shifted to the marine standing next to her, his armour sported two yellow streaks down the chest. The sign of a demolition expert. "Set the charges." With a nod, he waved another soldier back into the drop ship, and a few moments later they returned with a large metal crate which was swiftly hauled into the comsat station.

"Charges? Were blowing the place up?" Jackson asked, his pale blue eyes following the crate and it's carriers until it was out of sight. That wasn't in his briefing.

"Once were done of course. We can't guarantee the dominion won't retake the array and get a message off world. Third fleet is only a few hours away. And we can't afford a fleet, or another regiment of soldiers dropping in halfway through the assault."

That made sense. Again he nodded. "How long until the Skykiller arrives?"

"It'll be here tomorrow morning. Until then were to download as much information as we can out of the computers."

* * *

Due to the tinkering done to the sensors ringing the station. And in turn the fact they weren't tuned in the first place to tag dominion signatures, Alessa and Martel hadn't spotted the squad approaching the array. Though their drop ship had been.

"Commander, we got a problem here…" The lead marine hissed into his comm., a few subtle movements inside his helmet plugged his visor feed directly into the screens back at base. Letting those in charge see what he saw. "Not one of ours by the

looks."

"No, no it's not." A distinctly female voice responded. A few moments later she spoke again, though it was obvious she was speaking to someone else so the marine kept silent. "Patch me through to the Ikea, looks like we have company…"

"Post a watch and keep an eye on them." The woman instructed, her tone hinting at concern, though there was also a flash of anger behind it most wouldn't have even noticed. "I'm sending reinforcements, hold position until they arrive."

"You heard the lady! Move out!" The sergeant ordered, his squad swiftly fanning out to find cover and vantage points so they could easily survey the station.


	3. Surprises

Antaria's last message: Surprises, I hate surprises…

* * *

Night had fallen yet again, and aside from a few scattered sentries, the main combine strike team had retreated back into the station to relax and wait for their support to arrive.

Jackson soon found himself in a random corner of the main communication room, a cup of coffee in hand. As it turned out the place had been well equipped, and no one had found a reason to complain yet.

Still nothing on the scanners, not that they'd picked up on at any rate. And in turn the cruiser they were watching hadn't shifted from orbit yet. Either the dominion was onto them, or they were loading up another shipment of minerals.

Either way, it wasn't good for them. "Any sign of a search party?" This was the third time since they'd taken the array he'd asked that question. Most people would have called him paranoid by now. Luckily Alessa wasn't the type to make comments, or she was simply reading his mind and knew the kind of response she'd receive from the marine.

"Nothing yet. There's defiantly something out there though, I'm getting some feedback from the eastern perimeter…' She idly tapped a few buttons and adjusted the scan. "Can't get a decent lock on it though…Seems to be a signal however, maybe a radio…"

Jackson was silent for a long moment, before he simply downed the remaining coffee in a single mouthful and set the mug down on the nearby table. "Better then sitting around." He sighed, before idly collecting his impaler and setting off for the door.

* * *

Having rounded up two other marines, Jackson and his team quietly swept the perimeter of the comsat array. Aside from the crunching of rocks and sand beneath their' CMC armoured boots; nothing else was to be heard. Now and then the courperal would spare a glance towards the tiny screen off to one side of his visor, it being a small map of the area. "This is where the signal came from…Don't see anything though." He muttered quietly, his voice being transmitted to both marines beside him, and in turn back to their captured command center.

"Nothing? Let me run a diagnostic." Alessa replied, the faint tapping of keys being audible through the comm.

"Damn does she ever stop typing?" One of the soldiers, Max commented, having heard the response as well.

"Who cares? Better her stuck in that station then us." Jackson retorted.

Whatever response Max had planned, was swiftly cut short by a loud bang. Followed by a cry of pain as a impaler spike slammed into his shoulder. "Contact!" He shouted, his free hand jumping to the wound and swiftly yanking the spike out.

Having little idea as to what, or how many was shooting at them, the trio swiftly ducked for cover, Jackson finding a patch of rocks to drop behind. Max luckily found a small crater to dive into.

The third marine wasn't fast enough however. As another burst of impaler fire ripped through his armour and shredded his insides. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

"Damn it! Under fire!" Jackson barked into his comm., before he brought his rifle up to his shoulder and risked peeking up over the rocks. Nothing, wherever they were, it was well concealed.

He ducked back out of sight a second later as another rifle burst peppered the rocks around him, forcing the marine back out of sight. "Any ideas?" He whispered into his comm, the loud pinging of spikes hitting the rocks around him leaving his ears ringing to the point he almost missed the response. "Just keep you're head down a second." Max replied, before pulling himself up into a crouch.

Without pausing to aim, he brought his rifle up and fired several rounds in the direction the dominion seemed to be shooting from.

Sure enough their attention, and fire, shifted to the marine, forcing him back into cover, but also allowing Jackson to spot where they were hiding.

Taking steady aim, he fired off several spikes. Two dominion marines collapsed, a third was forced to retreat with a spike jutting out of his shoulder.

They wised up fast however, as the three remaining shifted their fire between the two, keeping both pinned down. "Some help would be nice." Jackson muttered, knowing no one else was out here.

Or so he thought. "Keep you're helmet on." Shadow sighed, before the distinct crack of a canister rifle filled the air, one marine fell a hole punched cleanly through the back of his head.

Before the others could react, the ghost flickered into view, his rifle fired again, felling the second. Faced with no other choice, the only marine still standing dropped his impaler and lifted his hands above his head.

Shadow shrugged but didn't lower his gun. "Least one of you has some brai-" Another shot rang out, and the dominion soldier was pitched forwards face first into the sand, a metal spike lodged between his shoulders.

Shadow's gaze snapped over to Jackson who was busy reloading his weapon. "Like hell I'm taking prisoners." He said by way of reply to whatever the ghost was going to ask.

"…Whatever." Shadow flickered and vanished from view once again. "You're welcome by the way!" He called out before setting off back to camp.

Shaking his head slightly, Jackson waved Max over. "Dominion knows were here now. Looks like things just got interesting."


End file.
